DiNozzo Men
by misspatchesmom
Summary: Tony and his grown sons have a guys' night out before his youngest's wedding. Part of the 'You Complete Me' universe.


DiNozzo Men

_Tony, Anthony and LJ have a guys' night before LJ's wedding. February 2046._

"Thanks everyone for coming," LJ watched as the last of the extended family left his bachelor party. Chaim, John, Charles, Uncle Tim, Uncle Jimmy, Uncle Clay, Uncle Leon, Uncle Nick, and Jason had gathered at their favorite steak house to celebrate the upcoming wedding. LJ made a special thanks to Uncle Tim for taking time away from Aunt Dee's hospital room and to John for flying in from Atlanta. Abba and Anthony helped LJ carry the gifts to his car. They put the two big gifts, a grill and a lawnmower, into Tony's truck.

All three drove to LJ and Savannah's house where they unloaded the grill and mower into the garage and carried the smaller gifts into the den to put into the pile of other gifts received so far. LJ was sure they'd be bringing in more stuff after the reception tomorrow.

"Hey, kid, got any plans for the rest of the evening?" Anthony asked his brother.

"Not really; just going to stay here and chill. I guess Savannah is off with the girls and her Mom for the final prep for tomorrow." LJ and Savannah had closed on their house a week ago and were looking forward to making their home their own.

"Good, we have plans for you," Abba responded with a grin. "Just the three of us DiNozzo men."

"Ima and Katie know what we are planning, so we're good to go," Anthony explained to his younger brother. "They're probably helping Aunt Ellie with decorating anyhow. I know that when Aunt Ellie asked Katie to help with the wedding, it gave her something to focus on besides her Mom."

"Yeah, I wish Aunt Dee could be at the wedding," LJ reflected on the accident that had nearly taken his aunt and uncle from the family. "Uncle Tim said that he'd probably be there. I promised that we'd share lots of pictures."

Anthony put an arm around his brother's shoulders, "Aunt Dee told him to go; he'll be there with Ima and Abba, or with John and Riv."

"I think we're bringing him," Tony added. "Makes more sense for Ima and me to do so, since he's staying with us. Yeah, Dee made him promise to be there for you and Savannah. She said it'd make her happy for Tim to be with family to celebrate the last of your generation getting hitched."

"But, shouldn't he be with Aunt Dee?" LJ asked.

Tony grinned, "You'd think; but when your better half tells you that something would make her happy, you do it. For her… because…"

"Yep, it's for** her**; you do it without question," Anthony added. "And you remember all the things she's done for you. Give and take, compromise, putting her first… it's all part of the game."

LJ nodded, "I get that, I think. If I were in Uncle Tim's shoes, I'd want to be with my wife in the hospital, not at a family wedding."

"But if she told you to go, that it'd make her happy, you go. Uncle Tim would choose to be with Aunt Dee over anything else," Anthony tried to explain. "He would choose to go to the hospital out of his love for her. But she specifically told him to go to your wedding **because it would make her happy**. She's telling him it's okay to go; she wants him to go and be with family."

"Maybe I don't get it?" LJ looked to Abba.

"LJ, you know the story of how Ima and I were apart before Tali was born and for her first two years. I didn't want to leave Israel and leave Ima behind, but she insisted. It was for her to come to terms with herself and move to a better place in her mind. I left because it was **for her**. Don't think for a minute that I don't still regret leaving, but it was a step we had to take to get where we are now. I left because I loved her so much that I understood she needed to work on herself first. Looking back, I needed to work on myself too, so that we could be a family," Tony wiped a tear from his eye. "That was the hardest 180 of my life, but if I had to do it again, I wouldn't change a thing.

"You know, if my dad had seen that tear, he would have said to me '_Junior, DiNozzo men don't cry_.' But loving your Ima taught me that it is okay to cry; sometimes very healing and cathartic to release the sorrow, pain, or anger with tears."

The three men sat in silence for a few minutes, reflecting on what Tony had just said. Each of them had seen sorrow, pain and anger in their lives. As much as Tony and Ziva had tried to protect their kids from the horrors of the world, they had also realized that the bumps and pot holes in the road of life were what gave each of them inner strength. They had stood by Anthony when he had revealed the abuse he had suffered at the hands of an adult. LJ had been only nine when the family learned about the abuse, but his parents included him in the family discussions and did not hide the details from him.

"So, what did you two have planned for tonight?" LJ broke the silence.

"Well, some of it will be your choice, but we wanted to have some time for just the three of us. We don't get to do things together as much as we used to when you were kids," Tony replied.

"We can go bowling or play miniature golf," Anthony suggested. "Or go see a movie, if you want."

LJ perked up at the mention of miniature golf; they hadn't played in a long time. "Let's go play mini golf; I think the last time we did that together was before Anthony graduated from high school!"

"Has it been that long?" Anthony thought back to the once a month Saturdays with Abba and LJ. "Yeah, I guess it has been eleven years!"

"I'll drive," Tony picked up his keys and they headed out to the Putt-Putt Golf. Once on the way, Tony grinned, remembering 'old times.' "Anything you boys want to talk about while it's just the DiNozzo men?"

Anthony and LJ grinned at each other; Abba was about as subtle as a brick to the head. "You know, Abba, we never were fooled by that. We always knew that you were going to get us to talk anyhow," LJ replied.

"Yeah, Abba, calling us the DiNozzo men was not really subtle on your part!" Anthony added. "I think we saw through that ruse when LJ was five. We told Ima and she said to play along."

"You wound me," Tony quipped, placing a hand over his heart. "Seriously though, your Ima is much smarter than me. She gave you some good advice." He turned into the parking lot for the mini golf center. "Let's go play some putt-putt!"

LJ grinned when he saw the lion-shaped tunnel on the first hole, "I forgot about the lion!"

Anthony grinned as well, "Do you remember when this was the only hole you wanted to play? Grandpa had to bribe you by telling you we could play this one first and last so you would play the other holes."

"Well, what about you, Anthony? I remember when you cried when you couldn't get the golf ball that looked like a basketball!" Tony reminisced. "Ima had to take you off to the rest room to calm you down."

"If we're going to remember, then Abba, you have to remember the time you were trying to show off on the split ramp hole and the ball hit the V, bounced up into your forehead, and knocked you out. Ima jumped over the hedge between the holes to get to you. She cleared the hedge by a good foot," Anthony recalled.

"Yeah, she was like a ninja when she jumped over the hedge," LJ laughed. "We all thought that was a really cool move."

"That's my Ninja! I was out so I didn't get to see it, but I can picture it," replied Tony. "Your Ima had some pretty crazy moves in the day."

They all laughed as they moved through the various holes, remembering times with the whole family and also times with just the three of them. The score was tied as they arrived at the eighteenth hole. Tony teed off first and his ball stopped about three feet from the hole. Anthony went next and his ball lipped the hole and veered off to the left of it, coming to a stop about two feet away. LJ teed up and grinned at his brother and Abba.

"I'm gonna ace it!" He hit the ball and the three watched as it rolled up to the hole, teetered on the brink and fell into the cup. "Told you! Pure skill and I still have it!"

"Nah, we let you win," Tony joked.

LJ turned to his Abba, "What did Ima tell you about letting us win? Hmmm?" LJ did his best imitation of the 'Ima glare' at his father. All three of them broke out in laughter.

"Don't ever let Ima catch you doing that, LJ."

"Why not Abba?"

Tony gulped, "She knows eighteen different ways to kill a person with a paperclip. I don't want to find out any of them. Ever. You just don't make fun of the Ninja; ever. She threatened me with a paper clip when she was three and a half; I've never forgotten that!"

"Wait, Abba; you knew Ima when she was a little kid?" LJ asked.

"Yeah; my father, your grandfather, was trying his hand at international land brokering. He sold a property in Chile to your Ima's father. It's the house in Curicavi, west of Santiago. Senior told me to babysit your Ima while he and Eli closed the deal. We had quite an adventure that day; I drove her Ima's car to Haifa from Tel Aviv and we went to the Haifa beach house and the beach.

"Eli's hashomerim followed us the whole time. When they took us back to Tel Aviv, Ziva hugged me and said she'd remember me forever…" Tony trailed off, remembering that long ago day. "I think she knew way back then that we were meant to be together…"

"Wow, Abba! That's a story we've never heard before," Anthony was fascinated.

"You know, I've loved your Ima for so long, I don't remember a time when I didn't," he replied. "My life would be meaningless without her."

LJ thought about his parents' relationship from his perspective, "I hope that Savannah and I can have that when we've been together for years. Abba, I've always thought you and Ima were connected as one soul. How do you get that in a relationship? Anthony, you and Katie have it, too. How did you know?"

Anthony responded first, "You know deep inside. It's hard to explain, but when I'm with Katie, it's like I'm complete. It's been that way since we were little. But that's us; for you it will be unique to your marriage for you and Savannah."

"You work at it and you fight for it because you know so deep inside you that the souls are bonded forever. You do whatever it takes to be with her, even following her around the world three times to bring her back to you. Wherever Ziva is, that's home to me. I can't live without her," Tony tried to explain. "LJ, you find your connection and you give whatever it takes to keep it strong."

Father and sons returned the golf balls and putters to the booth by the entrance and exit. As Tony was about to ask where to go next, Anthony announced that he was hungry.

"Pizza?" Tony asked his sons.

"YES! Double cheese with pepperoni and sausage!" LJ grinned at his older brother as Anthony suggested a family favorite. Some things never changed. The three DiNozzo men would always love their pizza, and love their women with everything they had in them to give.

* * *

**A/N Happy birthday to Michael Weatherly**


End file.
